G.R.Bhattacharjee, J. - (1.) On 2nd December, 1992 the petitioner purchased a motor vehicle being a bus bearing registration No. WBR 3734 from one Shri Jnanabrata Chanda. Thereafter he applied before the Registering Authority, Barasat for recording the fact of transfer of ownership of the said vehicle and also submitted all necessary papers. His contention is that in spite of compliance of all necessary formalities the Registering Authority is not recording the fact of transfer of ownership of the vehicle or his name as owner of the vehicle in the registration certificate and on the contrary insisting upon payment of tax under the West Bengal Additional Tax and One Time Tax on Motor Vehicles Act, 1989 payable by the transferor, as a precondition for recording the transfer of ownership of the vehicle in the certificate of registration. The petitioner has moved this Court by this writ application challenging the authority of registering authority to demand payment of any arrear tax as a precondition for recording the transfer of ownership in the certificate of registration. In the writ application incidentally it has also been contended that by virtue of the order of court realisation of additional tax under the said Act has been stayed and as such no additional tax is payable under the said Act. Since this aspect of the matter, is not necessary to he considered in this writ application the same is not taken up for consideration and all contentions and counter-contentions of the parties on this point are therefore left open and kept out of consideration. The only question that is to be considered now is whether a Registering Authority can insist upon payment of arrear tax as a pre-condition for recording transfer of ownership of a vehicle in the certificate of registration. In this connection the learned Advocate for the petitioner has referred to three decisions, viz, Nanaiah v. R.T.O., Mercara, AIR 1978 Karnataka 106 ; Santakumari v. R.T.O. & R. Authority, AIR 1976 Kerala 17 and Proposed Dharwad District Ex-Servicemen's Co-operative Society Ltd. v. State AIR 1993 Karnataka 117.
(2.) Section 50 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 contains provisions regarding recording of transfer of ownership of a motor vehicle. In view of clause (a)(i) of sub-section (1) of section 50 where the ownership of a registered vehicle is transferred within the same State in which the vehicle is registered, in that event the transferor is required to send a report about the fact of transfer, within fourteen days of the transfer, to the concerned registering authority within whose jurisdiction the transfer is to be effected and also to send simultaneously a copy of the said report to the transferee. Where however the transfer takes place in a State other than the State in which the vehicle is registered, in that case under clause (a) (ii) the transferor has to forward, within forty five days of the transfer, to the registering authority within whose jurisdiction the transfer is to be effected a no objection certificate issued by the registering authority in the other State by whom the vehicle was registered. In case of any transfer the transferee is likewise required under clause (b) of section 50(1) to apply to the registering authority within whose jurisdiction he has the residence or place of business where the vehicle is normally kept forwarding therewith the certificate of registration together with the prescribed fee and the copy of the report received by him from the transferor for getting the particulars of transfer of ownership entered in the certificate of registration. In considering whether a no objection certificate as referred to in clause (a) (ii) of section 50(l) can be granted or not the concerned authority is required under section 48(5) to obtain a report in writing from the police that no case relating to the theft of the concerned motor vehicle has been reported or is pending and also to verify whether all the amounts due to Government including road tax in respect of that motor vehicle have been paid as well as to take into account such other factors as may be prescribed by the Central Government. It is therefore true that in considering whether no objection certificate can be granted or not the registering authority by whom the vehicle was registered has to consider inter alia whether all amounts payable to the Government including road tax in respect of the motor vehicle have been paid. But as we have seen the question of granting no objection certificate arises only where the transfer of the vehicle is to be effected in a State other than the State in which the vehicle was registered. Where however the transfer is to be effected in the same State in which the motor vehicle is registered no such no objection certificate from the registering authority is necessary even if the registering authority by whom the vehicle was registered is different from the registering authority within whose jurisdiction the transfer is to be effected.
(3.) Rule 552) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 provides that an application for transfer of ownership of a motor vehicle under section 50(1) (a) (i) of the Act (that is, where the transfer is to be effected in the same State in which the vehicle is registered) shall be made by the transferee in Form 30 and such application shall also be accompanied by the certificate of registration, the certificate of insurance and appropriate fee. Sub-section (6) of section 50 of the Act provides that on receipt of a report or an application for transfer under the said section 'the registering authority may cause the transfer of ownership to be entered in the certificate of registration.' Now the question is whether the word 'may' used in said subsection (6) of section 50 gives discretion to the registering authority to refuse to record the transfer of ownership on whom or for reasons extraneous to the consideration of the matter. The answer is emphatically 'no'. Under rule 53 of the West Bengal Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 the registering authority or the concerned authority, as the case may be, 'upon the receipt of an application for registration or for any other purpose under the Act' is required to make such enquiries as may be reasonably necessary to establish the identity, eligibility and bona fides of the applicant.' Therefore on receipt of an application for recording a transfer of ownership in respect of a vehicle the registering authority has to see whether the requirements of the relevant provisions of section 50 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and of role 55 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rule, 1989 have been complied with and also to make under rote 53 of the West Bengal Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 such enquiries as may be reasonably necessary to establish the identity, eligibility and bona fides of the applicant.;